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Excited to introduce to Dakka my FREE, squad level ruleset for WW2 Skirmishes: NCO

Part RTS, Part RPG, NCO is a balanced and sleek ruleset for creating squad level firefights set in WW2. Fully customizable squads, with realistic weapon, item and skill options (EVERY NATION IS PLAYABLE AND REPRESENTED). Simple and efficient D6 mechanics for shooting and wounding, with Health AND Psyche effects. Order Dice mechanic for initiative and actions (very VERY BA player friendly!), but also includes a special actions phase for particularly courageous soldiers. Random turn "Events" also impact the battle in colorful ways, adding to the strategic and realistic flavor of the game!

Best of all!? It's COMPLETELY FREE to play! So what do you have to lose there, yeah!? Read and download the full rules and supplements at https://elijahkellogg.wixsite.com/ncogame

You can also join us in our FB group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1270021263092127/

If you check out the system and give it a play, I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your battle reports below! Thank you and enjoy!

burma44 wrote:
Excited to introduce to Dakka my FREE, squad level ruleset for WW2 Skirmishes: NCO

Thanks for sharing.

Downloaded the files - clearly a lot of work and attention has gone in.

Haven't had a chance to digest the rules never mind play yet.

Downloaded, I'll see if I get time to read it through and get my bruv to be bothered and give it a try, should I feel hooked.

Thanks for sharing anyway.

daisy666 wrote:

burma44 wrote:
Excited to introduce to Dakka my FREE, squad level ruleset for WW2 Skirmishes: NCO

Thanks for sharing.

Downloaded the files - clearly a lot of work and attention has gone in.

Haven't had a chance to digest the rules never mind play yet.

Thank you very much for checking it out! I hope you give it a fair read-thru and play soon and let me know what ya think. Enjoy!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Downloaded, I'll see if I get time to read it through and get my bruv to be bothered and give it a try, should I feel hooked.

Thanks for sharing anyway.

No problem! Thanks for giving the game a download and a chance! I hope you enjoy what you find and give it a play soon. Cheers!

I read these awhile back. Forgot how I came across them.

Had some pretty good ideas if I remember correctly. Looking forward to reading them again tonight.

 Strombones wrote:
I read these awhile back. Forgot how I came across them.

Had some pretty good ideas if I remember correctly. Looking forward to reading them again tonight.

Thanks Strombones! Yeah, the game has been out for the public to playtest for over a year and now it’s in a much more refined ruleset. Hope you enjoy what you read and give it a go!

Salut la compagnie!

Well, I've tested your game this afternoon against my bruv. He's not that convinced, I don't find it perfect but there are very interesting elements. The way is paved for a very interesting game, in my opinion, but its assets need to be further developped to fully bezr fruits.

The most important and enjoyable to my mind is the psyche. Whereas most games rely on a very "drafty" and straightforward solution, this mechanic is relevant and could habe great impact on the flow of battle. Unfortunatly, we both found it to be a bit weak: actually, only one soldier did actually got problems with his nerves. The effects of losing one psyche and the rate at which it drops. It would mostly aom at making it more mattering as killing.

I suggest:

-making the nervous collapse less binary and more progressive . Although the end result is still mist of rhe time incapacitated soldiers, it would make the leadt firefight more tricky and require mire managment. For example, up all psyche values by one or twi, but add effects for several steps were the soldier gets not to obey, to miss targets... etc

- adding a pinning mechanic ir more psyche damages to certain weapons, such as flame throwers, mg's and snipers.

This is to my mind the most important thing, with that, a few things in my eyes overperform, namely, the ability to redtore health by rallying. While it should obviously help the guy gather some grit, regenarating health that way means that a rather populous army can try and make itself unkillable unless they get insta-shot by a six in shooting. Maybe let only 1 HP get regenerated?

Marksmen are also a bit over the top. Scoped rifles coupled with deadeye that if I understood well essentially let you ignore even down modifiers, is atrocious. The should take in account the targets down modifier, so that they step down in power.

I would also reduce grenade ranges, or give MPs one or two bonus inches.

That's what caught my intention after playing it.

It has of course many good stuff in it already and I personnally quite enjoyed it. I also note that although the fame is clearly heavily inspired by Bolt Action, it doesn't feel like a Bolt Action rescale, which is good. The high customisation is also funny and overwhole the game is quite tactical.

I'd give it a good 7 out of 10.

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Salut la compagnie!

Well, I've tested your game this afternoon against my bruv. He's not that convinced, I don't find it perfect but there are very interesting elements. The way is paved for a very interesting game, in my opinion, but its assets need to be further developped to fully bezr fruits.

The most important and enjoyable to my mind is the psyche. Whereas most games rely on a very "drafty" and straightforward solution, this mechanic is relevant and could habe great impact on the flow of battle. Unfortunatly, we both found it to be a bit weak: actually, only one soldier did actually got problems with his nerves. The effects of losing one psyche and the rate at which it drops. It would mostly aom at making it more mattering as killing.

I suggest:

-making the nervous collapse less binary and more progressive . Although the end result is still mist of rhe time incapacitated soldiers, it would make the leadt firefight more tricky and require mire managment. For example, up all psyche values by one or twi, but add effects for several steps were the soldier gets not to obey, to miss targets... etc

- adding a pinning mechanic ir more psyche damages to certain weapons, such as flame throwers, mg's and snipers.

This is to my mind the most important thing, with that, a few things in my eyes overperform, namely, the ability to redtore health by rallying. While it should obviously help the guy gather some grit, regenarating health that way means that a rather populous army can try and make itself unkillable unless they get insta-shot by a six in shooting. Maybe let only 1 HP get regenerated?

Marksmen are also a bit over the top. Scoped rifles coupled with deadeye that if I understood well essentially let you ignore even down modifiers, is atrocious. The should take in account the targets down modifier, so that they step down in power.

I would also reduce grenade ranges, or give MPs one or two bonus inches.

That's what caught my intention after playing it.

It has of course many good stuff in it already and I personnally quite enjoyed it. I also note that although the fame is clearly heavily inspired by Bolt Action, it doesn't feel like a Bolt Action rescale, which is good. The high customisation is also funny and overwhole the game is quite tactical.

I'd give it a good 7 out of 10.

Wow! This is a great in-depth first-look at the game! I appreciate you playing NCO and seeing how it can improve. I understand a lot of your thoughts here and can see some adjustments for future versions. I won't comment on everything, as I want to see a lot more gameplay from lots of players before making more adjustments, but I do agree that psyche and health may need a bit of tweaking before the balance is right. It's funny you mention psyche in particular, because in version 1.0 psyche had this really big chart and progression, like you suggested, but players found the "book-keeping" too much for the mechanic. It got really muddy when players had to keep track of different psyche effects for different soldiers. We will find a middle way, eventually, I am sure!

Thank you again for playing, and I do hope to get that 7 to at least a 9 some day!

For all players:

I just uploaded a hot-fix version for rules 2.3 (now 2.3.1) which mostly includes minor edits for grammar and inconsistencies, but does come with three slight adjustments. They are:
1) "Mental Breakdown" is better defined for a number of different battlefield situations.

2) A couple of terrain rules have been further cleaned-up and clarified.

3) A few generic weapons have been edited for balance and clarity

You'll find the edits in red. Hope you're loving NCO! FREE AS ALWAYS HERE: https://elijahkellogg.wixsite.com/ncogame

How to play videos coming tomorrow!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
As promised, here are two great videos covering all of the mechanics of playing NCO. Enjoy!

Thanks, did you already include the changes you mentionned in the video or aren't they in an "patch note like" fashion dealt with?

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Thanks, did you already include the changes you mentionned in the video or aren't they in an "patch note like" fashion dealt with?

That’s right. The most up-to-date version of the game is available now and the video includes this version.

v2.3.2 uploaded! Just a few edits for clarity, but also includes a new Alternative Deployment Rule. Free as always! Enjoy!

I play a fair amount Bolt Action (which is excellent) so I'll have fairly exacting standards.

Downloaded to check them out and added the videos to my To Watch list, hoping to get a good look later this evening.

 TheManWithNoPlan wrote:
I play a fair amount Bolt Action (which is excellent) so I'll have fairly exacting standards.

Downloaded to check them out and added the videos to my To Watch list, hoping to get a good look later this evening.

If you’re an avid BA player, then the system should be really simple to pick-up, but I do hope you’re pleasantly surprised by the alterations made for more realistic squad v squad fighting and management. Thanks for checking out my game and giving it a go! Would love to hear your thoughts once you get a game in!